Going to Tokyo... In Theory

After Christmas Russell and I decided to go on vacation and finally spend some time in Tokyo. Tokyo is about three to four hours away from Kobe if you take the Shinkansen (bullet train) and more like 12 hours away if you take slow trains. The Shinkansen is expensive (about $120/person one way) so we didn't really want to spring for tickets just for a weekend trip. The slow trains, though, were too slow for a weekend trip. Instead, we have been devoting ourselves to exploring the more immediate region - which offers plenty to explore.

Finally, though we decided to head north to Tokyo. Among other things I wanted to do, a high priority was to visit my host family from Sapporo, who had moved to Tokyo at some point in the last four (five?) years since I stayed with them. We called ahead and they were free during our whole stay, so we agreed to make plans and set a day to meet with them.

Then came the hard part. Making plans. We had been discussing making plans for weeks, but had never actually sat down to do it. We knew it would be New Years and while we had heard that most people flood out of Tokyo during New Years (so the subway is more comfortable to use) we had also heard that hotels would be booked tight. I was a bit nervous about that and wanted to make sure we had a place to stay before we headed off. Russell, on the other hand, was not so concerned with finding a place to stay, but was very worried that there wouldn't be any Shinkansen tickets when we went to take the train. We went back and forth about where we should start planning and finally came to this conclusion:

We would assume that Tokyo was a big enough city that there was a bed in it somewhere for us - even if that was a couch at a 24 hour internet/comic book/cubicle shop. We packed light to make all scenarios less intimidating (light meaning we wore one change of cloths and each packed a spare outfit into one backpack). We packed gifts for my host family, the Nintendo DS and our electronic dictionary and set out. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering how we managed to email everyone, iphones rock.

Before we set out to *hopefully* buy train tickets, we split the wish bone Russell had been saving from the Christmas Party roast chicken. Since we both wished for ease of bed-finding in Tokyo, it didn't really matter who won.

Christmas Party!

During my last class with my Japanese teacher, we started talking about how much fun it would be to have a Christmas party and a gift exchange. I offered to host the party and we agreed to both help with the cooking. We set the gift exchange price at about $10 and set about inviting friends. In the end there were 6 of us. My Japanese teacher and her friend Noriko (who went to Kyoto with us earlier this year), one of my conversation partners, Masako, and Russell's conversation partner Kenji.

This didn't turn out to be the best planned venture. Please understand that I am going to have to explain everything in minute detail because I still can't believe how well it went considering how *ahem* slapped together it was on my end. It ended up going amazingly well when you consider that the day before the party Russell and I hadn't planned anything, had no food, had no idea what we were going to cook, hadn't cleaned (since before Russell's sister had visited), and generally didn't seem aware that we were about to host a party.

The day before the party I decided that we needed some activities, so I went out and bought one of the afore-mentioned gingerbread house kits from Ikea and all sorts of crafty stuff for making Christmas stockings. The evening before the party I made up a bunch of basic Christmas stockings out of felt (since that was the time consuming and boring part).

The morning before the party, Russell and I cleaned and then ran down to the grocery store to figure out what we were going to cook. End decision: Pasta salad and Waldorf salad along with a variety of snacks. At this point we still thought my Japanese teacher was going to be providing the sukiaki (meat cooked in broth and dipped in raw egg) though that ended up falling through and she brought a roast chicken instead.

Masako and Kenji came right about on time. Culture note: according to Kenji, a good Japanese guest tries to arrive about 10 minutes before the set start time of the party. He was aware that the tradition was different in the West, so he very kindly asked beforehand when he should actually plan on arriving. We were way not organized enough to give him an answer, so we agreed on "anytime!"

Once they had arrived, we needed to wait for our last two guests (who were wrangling roast chickens) so I had them start on the ginger bread house. Neither of them had ever made one before and after dutifully gluing the broken pieces together with frosting, they weren't too sure how to go about decorating. I demonstrated some shingle patterns, a window and some flowers, and they had the idea. By the time everyone had arrived, we had a gorgeous little gingerbread chateau, which to the amazement of the decorators actually stood up (and stayed up through the whole party no less!).

Once the gingerbread house was moved to another table, we broke out some snacks, did introductions, and then got down to stocking decorating. This also took some prompting to get everyone in the groove. I started cutting out letters for mine and gluing on holly leaves, etc. Once everyone started gluing the creativity started to come out. Noriko created little Christmas packages for her stocking, Masako made a tinsel ball face, Kenji expanded on the face idea and made a tinsel ball Santa face, and Keiko (the desinger in the bunch) kept hers neat and simple with a sophisticated "K" set just so at the bottom of her stocking. We had a lot of fun and by the time we were finished we were ready to eat.

With the help of the roast chicken and a creme brulee cake from Keiko and Noriko, our two salads turned into a feast. None of us had much experience carving a chicken, but Keiko turned out to be the most intrepid meat stripper in the bunch, refusing to waste the slightest bit of chicken goodness, and we soon had a huge pile of meat. The salads went over well - especially the Waldorf salad, which no one else had heard of before (apple, walnuts, raisins and some mayonnaise if you count yourself among the confused). The mayonnaise bit had always turned me off to this dated side dish, but we had recently had some at Cafe Kei and Russell was familiar with it, so we decided to go for it. I have to admit I am coming around to it - so long as it has had some time to sit.

After dinner was the cake. This was really a fancy cake. It had a thick cookie base with a thick pudding layer and was nicely "bruleed" on the top. It was originally decorated with a pile of 5 strawberries and a sugar Santa. Since there were 6 of us, we cut the cake and then gave each person a strawberry or a Santa. Russell called the sugary fat man.


The last event of the evening was the gift exchange. Everyone drew numbers and then chose a gift (or stole a previous gift) in the order of their numbers. Russell went first and got a scented candle (Japanese-style scent, it was noted). Kenji went next and got the hat I had knitted two days before the party (when I probably should have been cleaning or otherwise planning). Masako went next and got a lego giraffe kit. She was very pleased. Noriko followed and got a scented candle (this one from Yankee Candle and deemed decidedly American in scent). I was #5 and since there hadn't been any stealing yet (which seemed a shame) I stole the giraffe and Masako ended up getting the chocolate whack-an-orange from Russell. Keiko was last and since her own gift was left on the table, she stole Russell's scented candle and he opened the last gift: a Monburan shaped candle (Monburan is the Japanese version of Mont Blank and is a kind of cake/sweet with chestnut paste and cream). The gift bag also included a cookie from the cafe Keiko helped design and a spongy, not-for-eating faux french toast key chain.

The gifts had been given.

I set to work on my giraffe, we chatted a bit and when it was time to go, I retrieved everyone's stockings (which had allegedly been drying near the space heater in the bedroom) now stuffed with (rather cheap) stocking stuffers. We said goodbye to everyone and then sat around marveling at the fact that everything had gone so well. It was a lot of fun and definitely put us in the Christmas spirit.

Preparing for Christmas

Leading up to our frist Christmas in Japan, things were surprisingly similar to home. I wasn't really expecting that in a country where Christmas is by and large adopted for its commercial appeal and not its religious significance. But then again, I guess its the commercial appeal that we mostly see at home too. Right after Halloween the Christmas decorations went up - there were colored lights and Christmas trees (either made of lights or of the plastic variety - one does note the absence of pine scent, unfortunately). Christmas carols - both in English and Japanese - started playing in most public areas. Ikea was selling gingerbread house equipment (even though most of my students had never heard of a gingerbread house before) and overall it was easy enough to feel like the season was right on schedule. The shopping, which is traditionally a serious pass time in these parts, was clearly stepped up a notch. Nana, one of my conversation partners, and I went shopping to get Christmas cards and wrapping paper at the local LOFT home store. When we went to get in line at the register, we soon discovered that the line didn't just make one small snake (something which we started to gripe about) but actually snaked around the corner, across the entire floor of the building, back, down again and then up the small snake we had originally seen. In the photo we are half way through the long half of the line. It took about 40 minutes to pay for our stuff.

But that wasn't the only thing that reminded me of Christmas! We clearly needed a tree, but we didn't want to buy a plastic tree that we would have to get rid of at some point. My Japanese teacher came to the rescue! As a Christmas gift, she gave me a "grow your own tree" kit. I was expecting something like a chia-pet, but the set up was different. There was a cardboard tree with branches cut out, "magic water", a petrie dish to stand the tree in, a garland, a plastic star for on top, and some sparkles to sprinkle over the end result. She told me to wait until a few days before Christmas, spread out the branches, stand the tree in the dish and add the water. I was starting to imagine more of a mold bloom. As it turned out, however, the reaction was (I think) chemical. The green color was probably die in the tree branches, but the mass appeared to be like tiny crystals. It took about 48 hours to reach full bloom and it is still just as nice as the the picture (actually a bit more plush). Perfect Christmas tree and a fun experiment!

You may also notice the fancy white blob with the left with the orange on top. This is kagami mochi. When I bought it, I had no idea what it was, but I saw a picture of one sitting on a desk and it was clearly connected to New Years, so I decided to go ahead and buy one and then figure it out with the help of the Internet when I got home. Here's what wikipedia says:

The kagami mochi first appeared in the Muromachi period (14th-16th century). The name kagami ("mirror") is said to have originated from its resemblance to an old-fashioned kind of round copper mirror, which also had a religious significance. The reason for it is not clear. Explanations include mochi being a food for sunny days,[2] the 'spirit' of the rice plant being found in the mochi,[1][2] and the mochi being a food which gives strength.[2]

The two mochi discs are variously said to symbolize the going and coming years,[2] the human heart,[2] "yin" and "yang", or the moon and the sun.[3] The "daidai", whose name means "generations",[4] is said to symbolize the continuation of a family from generation to generation.[1]

Now, I'm still not 100% sure what the story is behind these mochi decorations. Clearly they may or may not symbolize a lot of things. I can say that I have seen them everywhere. Even Disneyland was selling them with a Mickie figure on top instead of a bitter orange. They could be found for sale in convenience stores, grocery stores and beyond. Russell and I are looking forward to the second Saturday of January when we get to try and eat whatever mochi is inside the plastic outer shell.


Finally, I got to do one thing I usually don;t get to do in Oregon. I got to assign my students really long writing assignments to do over the break. I love teaching! I did volunteer to correct papers if students brought them to me before the break. One came decorated. My students are awesome.

Luminarie

Shortly after Carolyn left, the Luminarie got under way in Kobe. The Luminarie is a yearly event put on by the city to commemorate the Great Hanshin earthquake. For about two weeks in December, a huge light display is put up down one of the downtown streets leading to an even larger display in the park along Flower Road (the main drag). From 6pm to 10pm every night during the event, the roads around the Luminarie are shut down to allow for huge crowds of tourists and locals to flow (or at times push) though the display. The lights were apparently donated by the Italian government and are all hand painted. The event started the December after the earthquake and was suppose to continue for only 10 years as Kobe recovered from the emotional and economic devastation of the earthquake. It has become so popular, however, that it continued even after 2005, which was suppose to be the last year. There are apparently rumours ever year that this will be the last one. The even attracts several million people every year. While this is clearly an economic boon to Kobe, many of the shop keepers apparently complained when the even was closer to Christmas because the huge lines of people block pedestrians from getting to the stores along the lighted walk - many of them major department stores. It really is a mob scene. The Luminarie has since been pushed to earlier in December, though I suspect the shops along the lighted boulevard probably still dread Luminarie season.

Almost everyone I had talked to gave a tepid reaction to the event. I heard stories of hours in line only to be quickly pushed through the display by the crowds - no time for photos, cold, long waits. It wasn't sounding all that great, honestly. We decided that we had to do it at least once, though, so the first Friday that the display was up, Russell and I met downtown after I got off work and we headed to the line. We timed it right, as it turned out. The line was long, but it wasn't tightly packed and moved along at a walking pace. It was easy to pull aside and take pictures, there was little pushing or waiting and everyone was generally in good spirits and enjoying themselves. There was an impressive mob of people, though, and it apparently grew and grew as the nights wore on. I can;t imagine what the last night must have been like two weeks later... ugh.

An unexpected bonus was the huge spread of food carts at the end of the display. Russell and I happily plunged in. Fair food in Japan is simply awesome. In fact, we skipped the show on a later night and just went for dinner at the carts. I had a roasted sweet potato that was about the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. I have eagerly kept an eye out for further stands selling sweet potatoes, but have had no luck.

Autumn Leaves in Kyoto

Our last big adventure while Carolyn was visiting was one more trip to Kyoto to try and see some of the mythically gorgeous autumn leaves that everyone was raving about. I had heard stories about the autumn leaves in Kyoto and how hotspots like the Kinkakuji (the Golden Temple) are packed like commuter trains from the entrance to the exit. Several people had warned me not to go on the weekend out of fear for my safety. Seriously. First, we headed to Nijo-Jo (Nijo Castle). This is the castle with the Nightingale floors you may have heard of. The floors chirp when you walk on them. They were designed that way to prevent espionage and potential attacks by warning the residents that someone was coming. The floors still chirp to this day. We had a good time - I had missed this stop when Gwen and Nicole visited because I had to work. I'm glad I got a chance to go, though. Did I mention that Kyoto is full of awesome things to see?

Even so, Carolyn and I are made of stout stuff. We did forgo the Kinkakuji, but decided to head to the Kiyomizudera - another extremely famous temple in Kyoto with a large deck that overlooks the city and surrounding hillsides. This turned out to be an especially good place for autumn leaf watching. We were there right at the peak of the color and the temple grounds are large enough that you aren't suffocated by people - though the crowds were still impressive. The narrow streets up to the temple were a bit daunting.

In fact, the crowd flow was good enough that we could fairly easily get up to the front to take the best pictures of each view. I had assumed we would just have to take pictures over the crowd, but that wasn't the case. Nice! Of course, as you may remember from our previous trip to Kiyomizudera with Gwen and Nicole, there is a large iron post for people to attempt lifting as you enter the temple. I believe I got a shot of Russell trying to lift the post last time. Like brother like sister. I don't think Carolyn had much more luck.

Result? The views were impressive. The foliage was gorgeous and even though we were there as the sun was setting and caught more dusk than daylight, we got some amazing pictures and had a really good time.

Back to Nara

Feeding deer in Nara may well become our standard visitor activity. We haven't done a very good job of branching out and exploring other parts of Nara (and I understand its worth it) but we just love the area around the station and the parks around the main temple. Not to mention the main temple and its woodland friends. This time, I found a new favorite stop in Nara - a shop close to the station that makes fresh mochi treats. The day we happened by the shop, they were making mattcha (green tea) mochi with ahn (sweet red bean) filling and a kinako (toasted soy bean powder) dusting. These are my three favorite parts of Japanese sweets. Getting them together in a warm, sticky, fresh lump was awesome. While a machine did most of the mochi-fying of the rice, the shop workers pulled out the nearly finished mochi and finished it off in traditional style, whacking it with large wooden mallets while folding it over on itself. A definite crowd pleaser. I didn't have a good angle for this, but Carolyn got a great picture. If she ever sends it to me, I will be sure to post it. In the meantime, you will just have to arrange a visit - we'll be sure to take you. :)

News Year Resolution...

To catch up on posts...

I have been accumulating stories and pictures since November and have been too busy and too lazy to post them all.

This, of course, can only mean one thing. Prepare yourself for a deluge of posts over the next few days. I have a few more days off, so I should be able to get caught up.

With that in mind, I need to rewind quite a ways back to November when Russell's sister Carolyn visited. I got a few posts out, but there is so much more.

Let's see...

Fushimi Inari Shrine! We finally made it. I have been wanting to go here since I first started researching Kyoto. The problem is that it is just far enough outside of town that we never quite made it. As you may recall from previous posts, Kyoto is the kind of place you can easily get lost in over and over again without ever repeating the sites you visit. It really is amazing that way. It means you really have to make your first destination Fushimi Inari Shrine, though, or you are never going to make it. And it is definitely worth going.

Here's some of the information I have gathered about the shrine. I know not whether this information is complete or even accurate, so if you know more, please respond to this post! From what I have gathered, Inari is the godess (?) of grains and by extension, of business and wealth. Her messenger is the fox (a common statue throughout Inari shrines). This particular shrine is extensive. Beyond the main buildings, there are trails that go up into the hills and which are largely lined by Torii - or orange/red gates. From what I have gathered online, the gates are donated by businesses from around Japan in hopes of successful business (since Inari is the goddess of business).

I had heard about these torii before and I had seen some beatiful pictures on the internet, but I had no idea how many there actually were. It was a pretty serious hike to see the whole grounds. Keep in mind that these trails all weave up a hillside. While the trails are exceptionally well kept with stone stairs neat trails, we found ourselves out of breath pretty regularly. By the time we had finished hiking most of the trails we were pretty tired. We got lost several times, but never for too long. The trails are designed to keep you headed towards key points - you can't wander off too much. By the second time we reached the top of the hill we were honestly tired, so we sat for a while, ate toasted soy (kinako) soft serve and watched the shrine cats start to come out on the hunt for dinner. We also tried to ignore all of the runners out training by running the paths - over and over again. The old ladies next to us were less shy. At least one time they called out "gambatte!" (Do your best!). Russell, Carolyn and I dragged ourselves back down the hill.

Merry Christmas!

I have tons of things to post right now, but I am jumping ahead again to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

My bosses realized that since classes ended on the 24th, there probably wouldn't be any students coming to the school today, and therefore, no English teachers would be needed.

Christmas off! Hooray!

Russell spent Christmas Eve making chicken soup. We had a roast chicken carcass left over from the awesome Christmas party we threw on Wednesday (there will be a post coming). Not wanting to waste even a morsel of roast chicken, Russell set about making delicious soup. I was very lucky when I came home.

So after the soup we started staring at our little pile of Christmas gifts. We had originally intended to wait until Christmas morning (especially since I knew I wouldn't need to go into work after all) but the gifts won out. We opened them on Christmas Eve.

Russell got a Takoyaki pan and related utensils along with a bottle of Glogg and a bag of hard gummy ninja treats. I got convertible glove mittens, a cell phone charm with a compass in it and here's the best part:

Gift certificates to the Cat Cafe!

Apparently, the cat cafe is a small cafe with tons of cats in it. For $10 you can spend an hour snuggling cats. For $12 you can snuggle cats AND drink a beverage and for $15 you can snuggle cats and drink an alcoholic beverage. I can't wait! I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my cats at home... I hope they'll understand...

So wherever you are, if you are celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to everyone.

Unwelcome Surprises

Its been a long time since I have felt the urge to fret over mold. Most of the worry passed with the muggy summer weather. Fall has been lovely and considerably less damp. Winter, however, is now setting in and bringing with it cold winds and rooms covered in condensation in the morning.

Pop quiz:

Let's say you were to go to flip your futon over one morning and upon flipping it over found a dark spot in the middle. Upon further investigation you discovered that the good side of your futon had a spreading infestation of mildew and the bad side of your futon was turning colors.

Would you:

A: Put the $60 futon out in the sun for the day, wash the sheets and pretend you didn't see anything.

B: Buy a $90 futon dryer, dry the $60 futon, wash the sheets and pretend you didn't see anything.

C: Consult a professional cleaner in the hopes that someday in the near future you can drag your oversided futon to their shop and have it cleaned for $20.

D: Buy a disposal tag for your ruined bedding and go out to buy a new $60 futon.

E: Get full use out of your super deep bathtub and give your bedding a bleach bath. Rinse and hang outside for a few days until it is dry enough to bring in the house, use your new $90 futon dryer on it and ignore any remaining spots (they're just stains, right??)

Russell and I are still working on this logic problem. Russell is all geared up for E. I'm prepared to follow up with D when the inevitable hilarity ensues.

Wish us luck.

Jazz Live

Today we got a fun treat. My Japanese teacher has a friend who plays piano for a jazz band. The band was playing at a local restaurant, so she invited us to go with her and one of her friends. How could we pass up a live jazz concert??

The restaurant was a small place - it held about 20 customers and the band and not much else. It also served gourmet curry. It came to the table in a little earthen pot still bubbling away. We arrived early, so we got our dinner first. This turned out to be lucky as later orders didn't come out for over an hour.

Everyone at the concert had reserved their seats ahead of time. The concert lasted two hours and then everyone paid an agreed on $20/person to the band. After that anyone could take the stage. It may have been possible to request backup from the jazz band - I wasn't clear on that. We left before the audience took the stage.

The jazz band was really fun. The pianist and bass player were great. The singer was also good, though she had some moments that were better than others. She definitely had good presence on stage. I tried to take a picture but my iphone couldn't handle the dim lighting. I really should bring my normal, and more reliable camera for times like these.

My favorite part was when, during the last song, the bartender broke out egg-shakers to go along with the clapping and everyone joined in the music.

All in all, it was a great night out. Good food, good music, good company!

Thanksgiving in Japan

Our lack of oven kind of tied our hands when it came to Thanksgiving this year. That and our general indifference to American feast cuisine. The friends and feasting part of Thanksgiving was not to be missed, however. With that in mind, this is what we came up with:

Friends: Russell, Jaci, Carolyn (Russell's sister) and Kenji (Russell's conversation partner). Sorry for the small numbers keep in mind we only have four plates and one chair.

Feast: Homemade okonomiyaki and eggnog!

We actually jumped the gun a bit and had our impromptu Thanksgiving on Wednesday, not Thursday. Russell, Carolyn and Kenji were on their way back from visiting Himeji castle and had the idea for our feast. Kenji offered to show us how to make okonomiyaki and while explaining eggnog, Russell got the bright idea to just go ahead and make some (no matter how much we wish for it, it isn't going to appear in Japanese grocers any time soon).

When I came home from work the trio had already purchased everything they needed and were ready to set to work.

First, the okonomiyaki.

I am fairly certain I have described this particular cuisine before. It is kind of like a vegetable pancake, You take a healthy dose of sliced cabbage mixed with egg and batter and various other vegetables to taste and then grill it. Kenji made pork okonomiyaki by placing strips of pork (not cured like bacon) across one side of the pancake. Once both sides are fully grilled the pancake is taken off the griddle and smothered in a special brown sauce that is extremely popular around these parts. Other toppings can include mayonnaise and bonito flakes among other things. Check out chef Kenji.

At the same time, Russell and I set to work on the eggnog. Russell separated the eggs and we started taking turns beating the egg whites. We were suppose to beat the eggwhites until they held stiff peaks. Ha! We only had a fork and our enthusiasm, so we only got the egg whites to the thoroughly fluffy stage - no peaks. The cream, luckily, whipped up easily. In fact, it was almost butter by the time Russell was ready to use it. We mixed a good cup and a half of vodka and cup of a half of whisky into the eggwhites along with the egg yolk and sugar and then tried to fold the cream into the mixture. The problem was that we were suppose to fold the mixture into the cream. The result was a bit lumpy (check the picture) but oh so tasty and worth a repeat effort. I mean, what's the point of knowing how to make homemade eggnog if you can't perfect your technique?

As experienced eggnog drinkers, Russell and I thoroughly enjoyed our new version of the classic holiday nog. It was, well, not what you get at the grocery store - and yet somehow better. Carolyn felt it was perhaps a bit strong.

But what did Kenji, our new eggnog drinker, think?

In the first picture, Carolyn directed Kenji to pose with a thumbs up.

In the next picture, she directed him to pose with his real reaction. This was paired with the vocal reaction, "Eggnog is a mysterious drink."

And there you have it. Mysterious eggnog in Japan for Thanksgiving.

Japanese Dentists

I am safely through my first dentist's visit in Japan.

I had heard all sorts of horror stories going in. Everyone I talked to - both Japanese and foreigners - agreed that Japanese dentists were something short of what one might expect in the U.S. One suggested reason I heard along the way (I can't remember who told me this - so take it with a grain of salt) was that dentists in Japan are basically med school drop-outs. People who can't finish a medical degree are presented with dental degrees and sent on their way. I have no idea if that is even remotely true, but the reputation around dentists here definitely makes you wonder.

Both Russell and I were surprised by this. In a country that is so focused on customer experience and making things as gentle and painless as possible, it seems impossible that dentistry would be some back-alley practice.

Even so, we weren't going to just wander into the first dental clinic we saw. First I asked at work. No one was from Kobe so they couldn't recommend any local dentists. Next I asked my conversation partners. No luck there either. One of my conversation partners, though, was kind enough to look for local dentists (she had just moved back to the area and was also interested in finding someone good). She suggested three dentists that seemed to have good ratings and highlighted their use of technology (so how behind the times could they be?). She did warn me, though, that Japanese dentists are usually about 5 years behind the U.S. and privacy in dental clinics was unheard of. More warnings.

Russell and I called the first one and got an appointment. I have had an uncomfortable feeling in my molar for a couple weeks and I was pretty sure I could see a cavity. Russell told them I had a toothache and we got in the next Tuesday.

Post Dentist Report:

Turns out I didn't have a cavity after all. The dentist did use all sorts of technology (including a painful-looking animation of a root canal - didn't need one of those, thank goodness. The hygienist cleaned the plaque away from the molars that were bothering me in case it was causing inflammation and then she applied some topical medication (which made my cheek numb but didn't effect the discomfort in my tooth). The work that was done was super gentle and the staff were friendly and explained things to us. Russell was a little worried about the repeated use of the root canal animation, though.

Hopefully we won't be doing that any time soon.

In the end I am comforted to discover that Japan is not the original staging ground for Little Shop of Horrors. Decent dental care can be found - so far as we have tested it.

December!

Man... shouldn't it still be October?

In honor of the new month (and in spite of the lovely weather we have been having here) I dug out my best chilly-looking photo to ring in the end of the year. This picture was from last Saturday when we were walking home from the train. We had to go under the busy street instead of over it. Unfortunately, however, the city planners didn't plan on an invasion of Mulls. Things were a bit cramped.

Carolyn Arrived

I was unfortunately unable to participate in many of the early activities with Carolyn. I had to work. :( I did, however, catch a few of the highlights. The first night I joined Carolyn and Russell after they spent the day wandering around Kobe. Russell took us to the all you can eat Japanese buffet his Japanese teacher had introduced him to. It was pretty awesome. The food was probably only mediocre quality for traditional Japanese food, but it was super healthy, there was tons of variety, and it was still pretty darn delicious.

As an added bonus, we got trays with little compartments for all the morsels. We could take as much as we wanted, but there was so much variety, it was probably best not to take more of anything than a compartment could hold. We each had two trays of food and a tray of dessert. It was lovely.

Russell's in a Band!

So all that finger crossing paid off. Russell was accepted into the band he auditioned for and just this weekend finally got a chance to go play with them. Apparently it has been a bit of a rocky path for the band in question. Earlier attempts to get together were thwarted first by slow planning by the band members and then by the bass player quitting. They are still a bass player short, but decided to get together anyway. This Sunday while Carolyn and I were off to Kyoto, Russell met up with everyone.

Russell didn't give me the impression they are going to be performing any time soon (especially sans bass) but he had a very good time with them and very much seemed to enjoy the post-practice drinking session.

He apparently also mentioned that his wife has been wanting to learn bass.

Unfortunately, I still have no pictures.

Restaurant Displays

One of the continually intriguing things in Japan are the restaurant displays. There seems to be an active market for plastic recreations of a restaurants' regular meals. It is common to see a display window with amazingly life-like dishes to choose from. This is super handy for tourists - and the food often looks very close to the display. I haven't run into much false advertising.

As an example, I recently took this picture at a frozen yogurt cafe. After oggling the selection I planned to get a coffee float. When I saw the menu, though, I noticed that there was a black sesame frozen yogurt. Never one to pass up black sesame, I gave it a go. You might be able to see the black sesame parfait in the display window. Its the one with the rather large gray growth coming out the side. Based on looks alone, I probably would have passed this one by. It turned out to be delicious, though. I was also impressed to find that the frozen yogurt actually tasted like yogurt! Not just "not-icecream." An all around win.

Stock Pile of Goodness

It has been a decidedly long absence. My apologies.

I will say I have managed to stockpile a wide variety of stories. I will probably try to dole them out over the next few weeks. Many of those stories are related to our second run at hosting: Russell's sister Carolyn came to visit!

To get things started, though, I'm going to rewind back a few weeks before Carolyn arrived.

First, we finally bought a gift for ourselves that we have been pining after for a long time: a solid Go-board and normal sized stones. We didn't go for serious tradition - no two foot by two foot blocks of wood on legs or abalone playing stones. We bought the practical folding board and glass stones. We did splurge on real mahogany bowls for our stones, though. It all feels very official from our inexperienced perspective. A far cry better than tiny magnetic plastic stones on a 1/4 folding plastic board.

So what is Go? For those of you who have lived near you or visited us, we have probably tried to teach you. If not, Go is sometimes called Japanese chess. Unlike chess, however, no one has managed to teach a computer to play a full Go game well. Too many things are influenced by the beginning of the game when there are too many options available. Computers can't take it. I can relate. The point of the game is to capture territory by surrounding it with your stones. One player gets white stones and one player gets black stones. Whoever has surrounded the most stone-free territory by the end of the game wins. The basics are easy to catch on to, but it takes a surprising amount of work to get good at the game. I have been impressed with how many layers it has. I suppose that is to be expected from a game that has been around as long as Go has been.

One nice result of getting a decent board is that it has captured both of our interest. We have actually played fairly regularly since getting it. Back when we were in Oregon, Russell had coached himself into a fairly decent level by using the computer. I wasn't so into it and quickly fell behind. Since starting back up again, though, Russell has slipped a bit in his ability and after some studying up on how to make a strong beginning, we are now more evenly matched. I sometimes still need a handicap in my favor, but I don't need much to become a reasonable opponent.

Playing Go while sitting under our kotatsu (heated table) is what gets me through the day lately. I really can't think of much that's better. Maybe sitting under our kotatsu playing Go with a glass of scotch. Unfortunately, scotch and Go don't really go together well. If Russell ever needed a secret weapon, he would have a sure one.

More to come, stay posted.

Sleep Over!

While Russell was away in Oregon, I had planned to invite the other women from work over to my apartment for a sleep over. Everyone was excited, but we never set a date and time rolled past before we ever got the sleep-over put together. Russell is back now, but we still wanted to get together, so this weekend one of my co-workers hosted the sleep over at her place.

We rented a movie and bought a pile of snacks and treats from the grocery store. Our hostess made a lovely vegetable curry for us and we chatted all through the movie (leaving us really confused as to the plot). I was the first to go to sleep (some time around 2:30am). I got to sleep in the snuggiest futon I have yet encountered and this morning, for breakfast? Marmite! I had never tried Marmite before (and I did have other, sweeter options to put on toast as well), but I wanted to try something new. It was actually quite good. I had always heard horror stories. I can imagine having had a different experience if I had unwittingly slathered my toast with it, but in moderation, I can see where it would be addictive. Yay for new culinary experiences! Who knew I would be trying Marmite for the first time in Japan?

Another Fun Weekend

After so much luck pursuing old quests the week before, last week we decided to explore another area we somehow never quite get to: Harborland. This is one of the main tourist attractions in Kobe and we have meant to go there multiple times. The problem is that there are so many interesting things between our house and Harborland, and we usually think we are going to walk there. We almost always get distracted on the way. (I think this was how we stumbled on the jewelry shop where I bought my new wedding ring, for example).

Last weekend we were determined to actually make it all the way to Harborland. There was even a festival happening there to give us stronger motivation. We did get side-tracked for a few minutes when we found the Big and Tall shop that Russell had been looking for (named "Grand Back"). It turns out that even in Japan, you might not need to be AS big as Tall, but you still have to be bigger than Russell to get tall pants that fit. No love for the skinny 2 meter men. Sorry Russell. Note the plaque in the picture that, poetically enough, states that the Big and Tall shop used to be the U.S. consulate building.

After our small side trip, I am please to say we made it to Harborland. We did not explore it all, but we found the festival (local artists were given shipping containers as art spaces and allowed to do whatever they wanted to them. The public could walk through the art spaces for a mere $35. We decided to pass. We are just too cheap.

Among other discoveries at Harborland, we figured out where the pink pirate ship docks. It turns out there are two pirate ships that sail tourists around the bay. The pink one must be the only one that sails past my school, because I hadn't ever seen the classier pirate ship. We also found a shopping center with cute small shops and poked around for the evening. I found some cheap (and cute!) shoes and we picked out some Fall inspired jams from a preserves shop (sweet potato and pumpkin/orange). Next, we headed across the street to the more standard style mall with the huge Christmas display and color-changing tree on display. Everyone is gearing up for Christmas even though Christmas is an adopted holiday. I will have to post later with more details about the differences between Western Christmas and Japanese Christmas - they are significant from what I hear. In any case, after watching the Christmas tree change colors from red all the way through the spectrum to Purple, Russell dubbed it the "Bling Cone."

We finished the evening with a lively discussion at a delicious Indian restaurant and then took the train home. It was a lovely excursion.

Our Big Day Out

I have been on hiatus posting to the blog for at least a week - probably more like two weeks. Sometimes coming home and sleeping just sounds like a better idea. I'm sure you can sympathize.

We have been doing our best to enjoy the last few warm days and continue exploring the area around us. Last weekend, we decided to continue an adventure we had abandoned previously: Taking a tour of Suntory Whiskey Distillery. For those of you who sampled the whiskey Russell brought back to the states, this is a different brand, but it is distilled in our general vicinity, so we clearly needed to check it out. We rode the train out to the small town where the distillery is located and signed up for the free tour.

We all met in a side room and then walked over to the main building. Inside we saw the vats where they put the mash, we saw the room full of enormous, shiny copper stills bubbling away (the tour guide pointed out that there was a wide variety of styles of stills, which is apparently unusual in one distillery). We saw the room where the empty barrels are kept, and then we got to tour the cellar where they keep all of their back log of whiskey with the year printed on the front. It was quite impressive. Apparently the alcohol evaporates while it is in the barrels. This made the walk through the cellar an experience not for the weak of heart. A few children had to turn back and be escorted outside from a side door.

Once we were done with the tour we got to walk through the Japanese garden in the back (highlighting the pure mountain spring water they use for their whiskey) and then on to the tasting room. We were greeted with a choice of the afore-mentioned spring water, a glass of the 10 year whiskey on the rocks or the 10 year whiskey with soda. We were guided to a seat (shared with other people from the tour) and were given a variety of snacks that supposedly paired well with the whiskeys. Once we had enjoyed the first whiskey, we were given the chance to try the same whiskey neat and we were also offered another style of whiskey that was a bit smokier. Between us, Russell and I had four or five glasses of whiskey and a variety of snacks.

Keep in mind this was a free tour.

After the tasting, of course, we were guided to the gift shop, where bottles of these whiskies could be had starting at $100 a bottle. The whiskey was definitely tasty, and the tour was worth repeating, but the whisky was not as good as the Yoichi whisky from Hokkaido that we had found before. The Suntory whiskies were also more expensive, so we passed on the souvenirs. We did go home and buy another bottle of Yoichi, though. I am slowly being won over to whisky.

Since we were passing through Osaka on the way home, I convinced Russell to go with me to my Japanese teacher's cafe (the one she helped design). Russell is generally not a fan of trendy cafes, but this one had the marked attraction of building materials on the tables. Russell happily ate his dessert and rearranged interlocking blocks for about an hour. This is clearly a cafe that can appeal to multiple tastes. If you are in Osaka, I recommend it.